


Good Job, I'm Saved

by dixiehellcat



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [9]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Dream Sharing, F/M, Gen, Iron Family, Nightmares, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, idk them, the Russos whomst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25791820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixiehellcat/pseuds/dixiehellcat
Summary: Tony's recovery after the Snap is slowed by traumatic night terrors, until an unexpected hero comes to his aid.
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765129
Comments: 25
Kudos: 62
Collections: Tony Stark Flash Bingo





	Good Job, I'm Saved

**Author's Note:**

> filler for Tony Stark Flash Bingo, card 020, prompt 'Thanos'.
> 
> (teen rating is just for two cuss words and some brief dream-horror)

It was a rough morning. The mornings after nights ripped up by nightmares always were. Tony couldn’t roll on, blithely unimpeded by lack of sleep, the way he had when he was a wee genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, or even during the years he had spent with _superhero_ appended to that job description. Ironically, now that tinkerer, husband and dad were his only duties, time had fucked him over by making it harder for him to haul himself up and forward.

For once, he hadn’t woken Pepper flailing and gasping, but it was harder for him to endure Morgan’s usual babble at the breakfast table. He hated himself for it, because listening to her cheery bright-eyed chatter was normally one of the highlights of his mornings (even though he ribbed Pep mercilessly about how their child had definitely gotten her early-bird tendencies from her mom and not him). He stared into his coffee, the only thing that would stay on his stomach after nights like the last few, while Morgan prattled on about her dream friends. From what he was able to follow, she was running a dream mini-series, about a playground full of kids, some human and others not, and a teacher she called Mr. Sandman, who taught fun subjects like how to fly. 

Tony knew he should be paying more attention to his baby girl. He wanted to, but he couldn’t seem to drag himself away from the horror he had fancied. He could almost feel a huge purple hand clamp around his skull and pick him up from the scarred battleground, holding him dangling in the fetid air while with the other hand Thanos twisted his right arm off at the shoulder before he could snap. The dull thump of the limb dropped to the ground echoed in his aching head, sounding as real as the imagined pain of his other arm being torn off, then his legs, and as real as the mad Titan’s gloating smile as he reclaimed the Infinity Stones. Again and again he snapped blithely, and tore away everyone Tony loved before his eyes, as he lay helpless—

The chair legs screeched unbearably under him as he pushed away from the table. Mumbling about some fabricated work he needed to get done for SI, he started to get up and flee. “Tony, you need to eat something,” Pep said. She knew him too well, she could tell when something was wrong, but he was barely able to rein himself in and keep from snapping at her. _You don’t know what my fucking brain is doing to me, leave me alone!_ The concerned crease between her brows only made him want more to flee. It had been months since the final confrontation with his nemesis, and he had survived, had won--wasn’t that long enough, if he were strong enough, to get past this and move on? Her small sigh said she knew what he was trying to do. “Do you want one more cup of coffee at least?”

That would help him keep going, at least, he figured. “Yeah, sure. Thanks, honey.”

As Pepper picked up the Mr. Incredible mug Morgan had given him last Christmas, a little butt slid out of her chair and small feet padded around the table. Big dark eyes that looked too much like his own peered into his face while his baby clambered into his lap. “Did you have a bad dream, daddy?”

For some bizarre reason, she liked his prosthetic arm, so he wrapped it around her as she wriggled and settled into place. He didn’t want to go into it, he just did not; if he didn’t think about it maybe it would fade away. Before he could stop himself, though, he said, “Yeah, Morgoona, afraid I did. Happens to everybody, sometimes.”

She nodded, with a preternaturally wise look on her tiny face. “When I dream Mr. Sandman again, I’ll talk to him an’ we’ll fix it so you won’t anymore,” she said, as if rebooting his fried consciousness was as simple as that, and as cranky and tired as he was, he couldn’t keep from smiling. She was definitely his child, wanting to fix whatever was wrong for the people she loved. 

“Thanks, sweetie,” he says, kissed her and put her down so he could finish his coffee and retreat.

That night as she brushed her hair out before bed, Pepper said, “Tony, I still think you should give a therapist a chance to help you.”

He scoffed. “I lost my arm trying to save the universe, Pep. What therapist would have any base to start from in helping somebody deal with that?” 

“None,” she returned stoutly. “Not that, specifically; but a lot of them have a base to start from in helping people who have come home from war, to leave the war behind them.” She slid under the covers and he followed suit. “Ask Sam for a referral, maybe?”

It wouldn’t help, he knew it wouldn’t, but if it would make her feel better, he’d do it. “Okay,” he said, suppressing a sigh. When she leaned in to kiss his scarred cheek, he could see the tension around her eyes relax, just a little, and he resolved as FRIDAY turned off the lights and they settled in that he would do whatever it took to keep her life stable.

It was infuriating, that when Tony had the dreams, he never seemed to remember that they were just dreams he had dreamed countless times, and that they didn't bear much resemblance to how things had actually gone down. Every damn time, it felt so real, like it was happening for the first time. Once again, he smelled the stench of burning drywall and electronics, felt the grit in his eyes and between his teeth from being flung face first into the ash and dirt that was all that remained of the Avengers compound, and experienced the agony of the Stones on his gauntlet tearing him apart from the inside with their power. He had to get control of them, but it hurt so bad, it was so hard. Thanos was just feet away, and he had caught on to the ruse too quickly, in this blackest of timelines. The hideous face split into a sadistic grin, and the warlord took a step toward Tony still writhing on the ground, _too slow, it’s too late—_

Except that a tiny body shot across the line of sight of his blurred and failing eyes. In the Princess Leia footie pajamas May and Peter had bought for her birthday, Morgan clutched a plastic whiffle ball bat and started to whale away at the Titan’s shin. “NO!!” she shrieked. “You get away from my daddy, you mean old man!”

Thanos actually halted, and looked down and blinked in obvious bafflement. Tony was positive his heart stopped beating in his chest. He tried to yell at her, to make her get away, but he was gasping for air from fighting the Stones. Then he felt a tug at his hand--the Stones began to detach themselves from his nanotech, and as he watched in mounting horror they flew toward his baby girl—and Thanos. He struggled to stand, but his legs were rubber; they refused to hold him and he collapsed back to the ground, able only to stare and fight to cry out.

The same mammoth hand that tore him to pieces night after night reached out, but the Stones formed a circle in mid-air and began to whirl above Morgan’s tiny head. Power poured from them; Tony could feel the backwash from it, and when Thanos grabbed for them, the force knocked him back a step, then another, before he fell on his ass. Morgan, fearless, advanced, screaming at the top of her little lungs. “Go away, poopyhead!” She glared around the battlefield, small hands on her hips. “All of you, you go ‘way, and never ever bother my daddy again!”

They did not crumble to ash, the way they had, he suddenly remembered, when he snapped—oh, great, now he was remembering reality, lucidity an abrupt shock to his awareness. Instead, they all seemed to dissolve, to melt like a juice pop dropped on the ground on a summer day into nothing. For one more moment, Morgan stood and watched, then nodded her head in fierce satisfaction. She waved to someone he couldn’t see, spun and ran straight into his arms. “See, daddy? I told you I’d fix it.” Tears streaked down his cheeks as he held her close, and the scene itself dissolved around him.

He woke to Pep gently tapping his shoulder. “You okay?” she said, dabbing at his wet cheek with the hem of her nightshirt. 

From somewhere, he found a smile. “Yeah, fine.” 

“Another bad dream?”

“No, a good one, actually. I’m good.” He wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep again, and if he dreamed again that night he did not remember it.

The next morning felt like a gust of rain-freshened air. Tony’s appetite returned from parts unknown; Pepper made pancakes and they devoured them together. Morgan’s little motor mouth was on full speed again and he was able to enjoy it, until she said something that brought his brain screeching to a halt. “I dreamed Mr. Sandman last night, daddy,” she informed him gravely, “an’ I told him you were having bad dreams and they made you sad, and I asked him to help you. He said he couldn’t, but I could! I said I can? He said sure, and he took my hand and we went for a walk, and we found you fighting a big purple guy, and I yelled at him and made him go away, and saved you. So I bet he never comes back!”

Tony shook his head a little, to push back the buzz of shock. Pepper didn’t notice; she was smiling her _isn’t she adorable_ smile at her daughter. “Good,” he managed. “You did a good job, baby. I’m saved.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this story by rebelmeg: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20746658 (I warned you I took a hard left into the Twilight Zone on this one! hehe)
> 
> Basically a stand-alone, though can be read as part of my Equilibrium fix-it verse.


End file.
